Center School in Stratford targeted for demolition

STRATFORD — The Town Council is expected to OK a contract on Monday to demolish the former Center School on Sutton Place, sources on the council say.

Center School opened in 1970. The school was mostly closed and mothballed in 2005, housing only a small number students in special programs until 2015. It was small as schools go, with an enrollment of about 300 children at its peak.

Razing Center School was sought by former Mayor John Harkins, but the Democratic-led Town Council at the time fought his vision for turning the 3-acre schoolyard into an urban development with a parking garage, apartments, shops and the like.

The council in 2016 said that it wanted Center School reopened, something that the Board of Education said would be all but impossible to pull off. Since the school was decommissioned, it would have to be brought up to 2018 building codes, a costly proposition.

“We don’t want Center School, we don’t need Center School, and even if the Town Council fixed it up, we wouldn’t accept it,” Jim Feehan, the former chairman of the school board, said at the time.

There was also talk of turning the building into a downtown community center, but nothing much came of that idea.

The $712,000 demolition contract is expected to be awarded to Standard Demolition Services, Trumbull.

In other action, the council is expected to approve a so-called “block the box” ordinance. This would impose a $92 fine on motorists whose vehicles block the intersection after the light changes.

Monday’s meeting will convene at 8 p.m. in Town Hall; there’s a public comment period that begins at 7 p.m.